. The lives of the British sculptors, and those who have worked in England from the earliest days to Sir Francis Chantrey. s the filthy habit oftobacco-smoking; and when tired of such mental exer-cises, the pleasures of the chase or the attractions of thetable were sufficient to fill up his leisure hours. But ifnot much was to be hoped, so far as the advancement ofart was concerned, from such a mind, it so happened thata taste was being spread about for such things by manyof those who in virtue of their position and wealth werebest able to patronise and nourish the fine arts. Itnearly always h
. The lives of the British sculptors, and those who have worked in England from the earliest days to Sir Francis Chantrey. s the filthy habit oftobacco-smoking; and when tired of such mental exer-cises, the pleasures of the chase or the attractions of thetable were sufficient to fill up his leisure hours. But ifnot much was to be hoped, so far as the advancement ofart was concerned, from such a mind, it so happened thata taste was being spread about for such things by manyof those who in virtue of their position and wealth werebest able to patronise and nourish the fine arts. Itnearly always happens that after a period of storm andstress, a period of military and naval activity, a period,as it were, of preparation for the mental and intellectualadvancement of a people, a time succeeds in which thatadvancement actually begins and proceeds up to acertain point, until another upheaval brings about achange, to be again followed by a fresh development ofthe securer arts. The reign of James, as well as theearlier years of that of his successor, is a case in point; and if King Elizabeth was succeeded by Queen 20. NICHOLAS STONE AND HIS SON STONE 21 James, at least under the latter sprang forth thosevictories of peace which inevitably follow the morestriking glories of war. In such cases, some outstandingpersonalities nearly always shine forth as protagonists inthe new movement, and in the reign of James I. suchwas forthcoming in the person of the splendid GeorgeVilliers, Duke of Buckingham. To no figure in the annals of this country can thedescription of the Latin writer—that he was alieni afi-pe-tens, sui frofusus—be so well applied as to the magnificentdandy who was at the same time the chief, thoughhardly the most enlightened, art-patron of the age inwhich he lived. There is no occasion here to discuss thecomplex character of Buckingham. Such an incursioninto the realms of history is alien to my purpose. Butthere is little doubt that it was his love of display and o
Size: 1388px × 1801px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishe, booksubjectartists
